Courtesy of Mish.
Recap of Recent Greek Events
On Friday, Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras cancelled a with eurozone officials in Brussels. He returned to Athens to address outrage from within his own party.
Tsipras then blasted the latest deal offer made by Jean-Claude Juncker in a rant to the Greek parliament. Tsipras said he was “unpleasantly surprised” by the proposal put forward by the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission during his visit to Brussels for talks with commission head Jean-Claude Juncker.
“I would like to believe that this proposal was an unfortunate moment for Europe, or at least a bad negotiating trick, and will very soon be withdrawn by the same people who thought it up,” he said.
After blasting Juncker’s deal, Tsipras picked up the phone and made a call to Russian President Vladimir Putin. They agree to meet in two weeks at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Greece also missed a debt payment to the IMF on Friday. That did not constitute default because IMF rules allow multiple payments within a month to be bundled on the last due date. That trick was last used by Zambia in the 1980s.
Exterminated from Within
Greek energy minister, Panagiotis Lafazanis, ruled out a deal stating “I do not think that Syriza will accept for the country and its people to be exterminated inside the eurozone. A third consecutive austerity loan programme will be the most destructive option possible for Greece.“
For a more detailed recap of Friday’s events, please see Tsipras Talks With Putin; Energy Minister Rules Out Deal; Wordsmithing Extraordinaire; 16 Tons.
Juncker Spurns Tsipras Meeting
Given all the above, it’s no wonder that today Juncker Spurns Tsipras Meeting.
Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, asked to meet Jean-Claude Juncker on Saturday but was spurned by the European Commission president rankled by the Greek leader’s denunciation of his efforts to broker a bailout deal….
